Picture Perfect
by Higuchimon
Summary: [one-shot, Ryou x Fujiwara/Fujiwara x Ryou, Shadowshipping (GX)] A picture is worth a thousand words. For two guys who aren't very talkative, that's a pretty good idea.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Title:** Picture Perfect  
**Word Count:** 2,245  
**Rated:** T  
**Romance:** Marufuji Ryou x Fujiwara Yuusuke  
**Notes:** This takes place in a hypothetical week after Juudai's defeat of Darkness and before the graduation ceremonies.  
**Summary:** A picture is worth a thousand words. For two guys who aren't very talkative, that's a pretty good idea.

* * *

Ryou looked at the girl, one eyebrow raised just a little bit. He wasn't entirely certain that he had heard her correctly. But she stood there and smiled cheerfully at him, and perhaps he had after all. "You want me to have my picture taken with Fubuki and Fujiwara?"

"Yes!" Rei bounced up and down, the camera in her hands, her eyes bright and wide and happy. "I don't know if they'll still be in time to get into the yearbook, but we can put them in photo albums and share them and that sort of thing. Fubuki said that Fujiwara liked to have pictures of his friends and he should have some now that he's back, shouldn't he?"

That had never occurred to Ryou, all things considered. He supposed it should have, but he had scarcely said so much as a hello to Fujiwara since the other's return from the realm of Darkness the week before. Fujiwara and Fubuki had been busy getting to know each other again, and he himself had been very occupied with making his new deck. There was a new Cyber line out that he was investigating, one that appealed to him for many ways, and he hadn't wanted to be distracted.

The thought of suggesting that neither of them were in this year's graduating class crossed his mind, but he chose not to say anything about it. Rei likely enough wouldn't be bothered by that fact, and she _had_ said that they could be used for things other than a yearbook.

"Where and when?" He might as well do it and get it out of the way. It would occupy him for a little while at least, and perhaps get him a little fresh air. Fubuki had been harping at him to get some of that for two days now anyway. It couldn't hurt to get out and have a change of scenery, if nothing else. And really, the more that he thought about it, the thought of spending time around Fujiwara wasn't all that bad.

"Right now! Come on!" The active girl didn't tug him along, but the look she tossed over her shoulder as she started away gave him the impression she would have liked to. He shrugged and started along. He hadn't been doing anything that couldn't be interrupted anyway.

She led him along until they reached the beach, which, given that Fubuki was also involved, _also_ did not surprise him. The other two were already there, Fujiwara dressed in his school uniform, Fubuki in one of his Hawaiian shirts and shorts. His surfboard was a little distance away, and the dampness of his hair indicated he probably had been on it not too long ago. He waved cheerfully as Ryou and Rei arrived.

"Hey! So you actually managed to round him up!" Fubuki grinned over at the younger girl, and Ryou rolled his eyes. These two were so much like each other that it was somewhat on the unnerving side, even for him.

Rei motioned to the three of them to get together on the sand, Fujiwara in the middle, Ryou to the left, Fubuki to the right. Ryou was close enough to catch a scent from each of them. Fubuki was the ocean, tangy and salty, and with a hint of some cologne underneath it. Fujiwara…Fujiwara…

There was something dark and rich that could only be him. Ryou wasn't even sure if it was a _scent_ or something else. But it was a clear awareness that simply spelled out _Fujiwara_ to him.

"All right, here we go!" Rei started to snap pictures, moving around to get at them from different angles. She took half a dozen before getting them to change positions, this time with Ryou in the center. Now that scent or awareness of whatever it was came through even more clearly. If he could put a name or a taste to it, it would be, of all things, chocolate. Rich, dark, smooth chocolate, with a hint of an exotic flavor to it.

_You need to get more sleep,_ he reproved himself. What was he doing thinking of things like that, when there were duels to be dueled and a Pro League to reconstruct with Shou and his own health to be taken into consideration?

"All right, let's see." Rei eyed them all, then waved at Ryou. "I want to take some pictures of just those two. But don't go running off, I want some more with you too!"

Ryou's lips curved slightly and as he started away, he caught sight of Fujiwara looking at him, a smile on his own lips. Smiling had always been easier for either of them than it had been for Ryou himself…except when they were around. There had been such a large hole in his life for so long. Would he have always thought of himself as that perfect and infallible if they hadn't left?

He'd never know now, and it wasn't something to be bothered with at any rate. What was done was done. He watched as Rei took a few more pictures of Fubuki and Fujiwara, with Fubuki even giving the other man bunny-ears, and Fujiwara sighing and looking resigned, yet amused. It reminded him of what their first year had been like: chaos. Utter chaos, every time Fubuki had been around and had come up with something new.

A tiny part of him did miss those times, no matter how gone and unattainable they were now. He was a very different person, and so was Fujiwara. He wondered if the other still enjoyed red bean ice cream as much as he had before. Perhaps he would ask him and if so, they could have some. It really _had_ been a long time since they'd talked to each other at all. It wouldn't hurt anything to find out if they still _were_ friends.

"Now, you and Fubuki!" Rei waved a hand imperiously again and Ryou moved back as Fujiwara stepped aside. Fubuki slung an arm around Ryou's waist and grinned at him widely and happily.

"Isn't this fun?"

Ryou decided that he would get around to discussing Fubuki's idea of fun as soon as he possibly could. On the other hand, Fubuki might actually start telling him what he considered fun. Ryou wasn't entirely certain that he wanted to know more than he already did.

As Rei took even more pictures, Ryou could see Fujiwara watching them. For the most part, he looked as blandly smiling as he possibly could be…and that warned Ryou right away that something was wrong. From what he remembered, Fujiwara almost never looked like that: unless he was upset. He'd never wanted to let anyone see him get upset about anything. Perhaps that was why they hadn't know how everything had been going, until it was too late.

Was he upset about having to take these pictures? No, he'd always loved photographs. He'd called them portable memories. Ryou quite clearly recalled all the pictures that they'd taken together back then. There'd even been one or two of just the two of them. Back then, Ryou had been convinced that Fujiwara was the only person in the entire school short of Samejima who actually _understood_ him. Maybe he'd been right, maybe he hadn't. But the comradeship had certainly been there at the time.

"All right! Last set! You and Fujiwara!" Rei gestured once again, and now Fujiwara settled by Ryou. That strong feeling of chocolate filled Ryou's mind once again, and it was really very soothing. While Rei snapped pictures, he turned just a little towards his old friend.

"Do you still like red bean ice cream?" he asked softly. The time he'd spent in the Pro Leagues had enabled him to be able to talk during a photo shoot without moving his mouth a great deal.

Fujiwara glanced back at him, and he was smiling just a little. Ryou had never forgotten how sweet that could look. He had never forgotten Fujiwara at all, to tell the truth. "Does Tome-san still make it herself?"

"Of course." He considered for a moment. "I don't have anything else to do for a while once this is over with."

"Neither do I." Fujiwara admitted with a slight ducking of his head. He swallowed some and licked his lips, his eyes moving slightly to the side. Ryou wondered if that was where Honest was. He still lacked the ability to see Duel Spirits, but Fubuki had filled him in on everything that he had ever missed about Fujiwara and had told him of the angel who served him so loyally.

Then Fujiwara looked back at him. His voice was almost shaking, but he still asked, "If you're not really that busy, maybe we could go have some? Together?" He looked for a moment as if he were about to say something else, but shut his mouth and waited for Ryou to answer.

Ryou did not even have to think about it. What was there to think about? After five years, finally getting a chance to talk to him again, to spend time with him? What would it hurt? He was almost certain of what Fubuki would say, because it was what Fubuki always said. _Take a chance._

"All right."

Both of their heads snapped around at once at a sudden cheer from Fubuki. The showman duelist looked back at them and grinned shamelessly. "What? Can't a guy be cheerful about a nice day?"

Ryou didn't believe that for so much as a second. But compared to spending some good quality time with Fujiwara, it wasn't worth arguing about. He was doing this because _he_ wanted to do it, not because of whatever wild schemes Fubuki had quite probably cooked up and roped Rei into.

Speaking of Rei, she clicked off a few more pictures, then gestured towards the both of them. "That's all I need. I'll send you copies soon."

"Thank you." Fujiwara bent his head gracefully, then glanced towards Ryou, a hint of shyness in his look. Ryou brushed the sand off of his coat and stood up, looking back at Fujiwara. Then, together, they started off towards Tome-san's store.

Neither of them said anything for a while as they walked. They had never been that verbal, really. Fubuki had done most of the talking for the three of them. But now, finding themselves alone together as they hadn't been in years, it was amazingly easy to simply _be_ together. Talking wasn't necessary. Just existing was.

But sooner or later, someone had to break the silence. "You look good in black," Fujiwara said at last, casting another glance at Ryou and the gear that he wore. He had several copies of his Hell Kaiser get up, since that was what he had been most famed for after his stint in the underground circuit. "What made the change?"

"A lot of things." Ryou replied. "I learned not to be perfect."

Fujiwara blinked once or twice. "I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that." There was balance in the tone; he would hear or not hear as Ryou chose to tell. And perhaps Ryou would tell. Perhaps Fujiwara could understand as few others could. Oh, they _accepted_, and none of them would disagree with his choices any longer, but to truly understand…perhaps only Juudai and Shou did now. Fubuki understood in different ways. But he thought perhaps Fujiwara could understand him in the way that would be the best. It would be interesting to find out.

"I'll tell you and you'll see," was his reply as they drew closer to Tome-san's store. He looked forward to seeing how this turned out. Not just having the ice cream, but the talking, and everything that he could feel was going to come after that. Perhaps Fujiwara could even understand what it was like to have faced one's own death right in the eyes, and yet to have lived beyond it.

Only the future would reveal that, and Ryou was more than willing to find out what the future had in store for both of them.

And as they entered the store, two figures who had been stalking not that far behind them (though neither would have said that was what they were doing, they were simply following quietly and listening to what wasn't being said) grinned at each other.

"We do good work!" Fubuki declared. Rei nodded, clapping her hands together and sighing deeply and happily. Seeing the Kaiser happy made _her_ happy, especially since this had all been her idea in the first place. Fubuki was just as happy; seeing his two best friends happy together was wonderful. "So, who else can we set up together?"

"I don't know." Rei looked down the road to the store, then grinned. Without another word, she hurried down there, glad that her camera could be flashless and that Tome-san kept her store so very brightly lit. Fubuki followed, and grinned just as widely as before when he saw what she was doing.

Neither Tome-san, Ryou, nor Fujiwara saw it being taken, but when the pictures were delivered, the very last one was of Ryou and Fujiwara, seated at a table together, spoons of green bean ice cream in one hand, and their other hands wrapped around one another.

**The End**


End file.
